


penguin

by coffeebiscuits



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Beaches, First Kiss, Fluff, Hasegawa Langa In Love, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Sharing a Bed, episode 7 and on do not exist there is only fluff here, hasegawa langa gay disaster extraordinaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 07:14:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeebiscuits/pseuds/coffeebiscuits
Summary: “Did you know penguins mate for life?” Langa blurts out. “And during courtship, males present females with the smoothest pebble they can find. Because they build their nest out of rocks.”For a moment, there’s no response, just the wind in Langa’s ears and Reki blinking at him. For a second, Langa seriously considers throwing himself over the ship. And then Reki breaks out into a huge grin, all teeth, and Langa breathes a sigh of relief.“Awww, really?” Reki asks brightly, his hair flopping in his face. He pushes it back with a bandaged hand. “That’s so cute. Hey, wait a second, why do penguins have a better love life than me?”—The beach episode, but with a twist. (It’s kissing. Reki and Langa kiss at the end.)
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki, Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 28
Kudos: 673





	penguin

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in a FRENZY since i’ve fallen into sk8 hell lately! the beach episode is probably my favorite so far, i was smiling the whole time, so i wanted to write smthn cute and fluffy for it!

Langa never knew that a vacation could be this good. 

There were beaches in Canada, of course, but since Langa’s entire life in Okinawa mainly revolved snowboarding, he didn’t go much at all. So when Reki and Miya burst into his room, excitedly talking about taking a vacation to Miyakojima for the beach and hot springs, he had been skeptical. 

(“Will I get sand in my suit?” Langa had asked, twisting his face in disgust. 

Reki had sighed, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know, maybe. Come _on_ , it’ll be fun, I promise!”

“What if a shark attacks us?”

“We’re not in Jaws, Langa.”

“I bet that’s what the people in Jaws said.”)

Even while getting on the boat, he had his doubts, but now, standing on the top deck, watching the sparkling water rush underneath them and feeling the wind in his hair, he has to admit this was a pretty damn good idea. 

Langa turns his head to the side and sees Reki with his face thrown back towards the sun, a huge grin on his face. His flame red hair catches the light and ignites, wisps falling over his forehead, and Langa’s breath catches. 

_He’s beautiful,_ Langa thinks before he can stop himself, and flushes. 

He’s been having a lot of... _thoughts_ about Reki lately. Mainly along the lines of “oh, wow, his pout is actually adorable” and “the way he laughs when he rides his skateboard makes me want to kiss him.” 

It’s a bit of a problem. Langa’s lost sleep over this. Over how Reki runs his tongue over his teeth when he concentrates. How his hands are rough and calloused and covered with little scars from falling on the pavement, but are ever so soft and gentle when he patches Langa up. How his laugh is loud and bright and feels like drinking a glass of lemonade in the summer. 

“...Earth to Langa?” he hears Reki say, and he jumps. 

“Oh, sorry,” Langa says sheepishly, “what were you saying?”

Reki tilts his head, a confused look on his face. “I was just going to ask if you were okay. And also, I _thought_ I saw dolphins, but they were actually just normal fish, how lame is that? I got all excited and then Miya laughed at me.” He trails off into a pout. Langa almost falls apart right then and there. 

“Oh,” Langa responds. Like a loser. “Um, well, hopefully we’ll see some later on?” Do dolphins even live here? What if Reki expects him to know everything about marine life and he doesn’t know what to say? Langa starts panicking internally. He watched an ocean documentary once, but he had been half asleep so he barely remembers anything, except — 

“Did you know penguins mate for life?” Langa blurts out. “And during courtship, males present females with the smoothest pebble they can find. Because they build their nest out of rocks.” 

For a moment, there’s no response, just the wind in Langa’s ears and Reki blinking at him. For a second, Langa seriously considers throwing himself over the ship. And then Reki breaks out into a huge grin, all teeth, and Langa breathes a sigh of relief. 

“ _Awww_ , really?” Reki asks brightly, his hair flopping in his face. He pushes it back with a bandaged hand. “That’s so cute. Hey, wait a second, why do penguins have a better love life than me?” 

“I think a piece of moss has a better love life than you,” Miya says from behind them, licking an ice cream cone (God knows where from) with one hand and playing a video game on his phone with another. 

Reki shouts in indignation, in the distance, Shadow goes pale at the oncoming teasing match, and the matter is dropped. 

* * *

Langa learns that beaches are not, in fact, shark infested and threatening a large amount of sand in your shorts. When he’s pushed into the water, he’s mortified at how salty it is for a brief moment, coughing and spluttering, but that’s the extent of the trauma Langa goes through that day. 

Except for when Reki takes off his shirt. Langa nearly has an aneurysm. All he sees is miles of golden, smooth skin, and he trips over his own feet and hopes no one noticed.

When Reki jumps into his arms, he’s soft, and Langa pretends not to notice that they fit together seamlessly. Reki smells like wind and salt and sugar, and Langa thinks _he really should go shirtless more_ , and then, _no, that would be bad for my concentration and I probably would die while skating_.

Reki must notice Langa staring, because he turns to look at him, his waist shifting under Langa’s hands.

“What?” Reki asks, his breath fanning over Langa’s face. It makes Langa shiver, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. “Do I have sunscreen on my face or something?”

This close, Langa can see that Reki has faint freckles smattered across his nose, and he has a small white scar on his lip, probably from falling on his face from skating. His honey eyes squint in confusion. 

_Cute_. Langa has never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in his entire life. 

“No,” Langa says shakily, extracting his now sweaty palms from Reki’s body. “Just thinking.”

Reki shrugs and turns to look at where Joe is yelling at Miya, who has a huge smirk on his face. Cherry, who’s been woken up from his nap, is storming over to them with a murderous look on his face. 

“Shadow, pass me a sandwich, will you?” Reki asks gleefully. “I think shit’s about to hit the fan.”

“Don’t be so crude,” Shadow grumbles, but hands him the sandwich anyway. 

“You have a tongue piercing and you look like a Walmart Joker.” Reki bites into his sandwich. “Don’t tell _me_ to not be crude.”

* * *

They swim some more, having wrestling matches in the shallows. (Joe wins, he lazily shoves them with one arm and everyone topples over. Cherry, gingerly stepping around them, calls him an ape, but he’s flushing scarlet at Joe’s show of strength.)

Langa’s pale skin, unaccustomed to the glaring heat of the sun, turns red and starts to hurt when he pokes it. When Miya notices it, he laughs loudly, squinting his catlike eyes. 

“You look like a lobster,” he says primly, curled up on his donut float. Langa pushes him over and then _he’s_ the one laughing when Miya rises out of the water, drenched and spluttering. 

Shadow brings out a cooler he had somehow hid this entire time, with an alarmingly large stock of popsicles, which Reki immediately jumps all over. They sit cross-legged in the hot sand, the sticky, sugary juice running all over their hands. 

It’s the most fun Langa’s had in a while. If only he could skate on the beach. 

The conversation circles to skating, and Reki’s eyes light up when he starts talking about skateboards. Specifically, Langa’s. 

“I think I could upgrade your board even _more_ ,” Reki hums, sucking on his popsicle with a loud slurp that would be infuriating if it was from anyone else. “Maybe get some new wheels? I’ve been saving up, so maybe we can do something _big_ — like, something that’ll really shove it to the other skaters, you know?” 

“Why not just use that money to _buy_ a skateboard, idiots?” Miya asks. “It’s the logical thing to do. Not that either of you think logically.”

“I don’t want a skateboard that isn’t Reki’s,” Langa says immediately. 

There’s a moment of stunned silence between them, broken by the loud squawk of a nearby seagull. 

“Alright,” Miya says amusedly, like he’s in on a joke Langa doesn’t understand. “I’m going to go for another swim.” 

Langa and Reki watch him run off to where Joe is lifting Cherry on his shoulders in the water, in awkward silence. 

“Did you mean it?” Reki questions shyly, drawing a line in the sand with his toe. “You really like my skateboards that much?”

Langa ducks his head, letting his hair fall into a curtain over his eyes. “Yes. Skating’s no fun without your boards.” _Skating’s no fun without_ you, he wants to say, but he doesn’t have the courage. 

“Oh.” 

Langa looks up, and Reki’s smiling wide, eyes sparkling in the sunlight. His tongue sticks out between his teeth, boyish and playful, and with his headband abandoned, his hair spills over his forehead and ears. Langa’s breath catches. 

“Well, I’m going to go join them,” Reki says after a comfortable silence. “I’m baking in this heat.” His lips close around his popsicle stick to suck out the last dregs of sweetness, and Langa’s eyes follow the movement. 

“Okay,” Langa responds, tracing a line on his knee, “I’m going to have another popsicle.” 

He rips open the packaging of another popsicle, watermelon flavored, and sticks it into his mouth. He looks at Reki’s retreating back and sighs, a little longingly. 

“So Reki, huh?” Langa suddenly hears from behind him, and he jumps a foot in the air. He whips his head around and sees Joe, still dripping wet and arms crossed, with an amused smile on his face. 

“What?” Langa pants. His heart is _hammering,_ Jesus Christ. 

Joe grabs a towel and rubs his hair. “Reki. You look at him with heart eyes, Langa, I’m not blind.”

“No I don’t.” 

Joe raises an eyebrow and turns to where the others are swimming. Langa follows his gaze and sees Reki loudly laughing at Shadow. Rivulets of water drip from his hair down to his chest, and Langa sighs dreamily. 

“Like I said,” Joe says, grinning. “I’m not blind.”

Langa blushes. “Please don’t tell him.”

Joe shrugs. “I won’t, I’m not a jerk. But he likes you too, you know. You’re both just too oblivious to see it.”

For a moment, Langa’s world shatters and his heart starts beating, loud and frantic, in his chest. But then he recollects himself, wipes his palms on his swim shorts. Because if he learned _anything_ in English class, it’s that you need evidence to support your thesis. And Joe’s thesis seems drastically unsupported. He tells Joe such.

“You don’t have any evidence to support your thesis,” Langa says weakly. 

Joe laughs. “No, I don’t, but I have a pretty big hunch. And I think you should talk about it.” 

Langa mulls it over. He thinks about Reki’s hands, and how badly he wants to hold them. And how he wouldn’t mind calling him his boyfriend. How he _wants_ to call him his boyfriend. He smiles. 

“Maybe,” Langa decides. “But you have to promise me one thing in exchange.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

“Talk to Cherry about _your_ feelings.”

Joe yelps. “K-Karou? _Him_? What feelings?”

“Hmm,” Langa hums, biting down on his popsicle stick. He stands up, brushing the sand from his hands. “I may be oblivious about some things, but I’m definitely not oblivious about _that_.”

He walks off to go back to the ocean, leaving a red-faced and muttering Joe behind him. 

* * *

After the disaster that was the hot springs visit, they take turns using the only shower available. (Miya uses all the soap to wash the stink off him, and when they make him buy more, he comes back with chocolate and a new video game, so they send Shadow instead.) 

It’s late by the time everyone’s washed, dried, and retired to their rooms. Langa and Reki share one, because Shadow’s too broke to afford a fancy hotel. 

“Hey,” Reki says softly as he slides open the door, stepping over to the bed. He has a towel around his neck and a stash of Miya’s chocolate in his hand. 

“Hi. Are you sure you can take those?” Langa asks, suspiciously eyeing the candy. If there’s one thing Miya’s protective about, it’s food. Langa can relate. 

Reki shrugs, smiling. “He’s just a kid. What is he going to do, scratch me?”

“Yes,” Langa deadpans. 

Reki sniffs. “I could take him. He’s, like, five pounds when wet.” He slides up the window with a soft grunt of exertion, and a rush of cool night air wafts into the room. He sighs with relief, unwrapping a chocolate and popping it into his mouth. “Ah, that feels better. Can’t believe there’s no air conditioning in here. How cheap _is_ Shadow?”

He clambers onto the bed, which creaks loudly. Reki wrinkles his nose. 

“ _Very_ cheap, apparently,” Langa responds, laughing. 

“This vacation was a disaster,” Reki groans, but his face breaks into a smile. 

“Eh, it wasn’t so bad. I had fun at the beach.”

“Yeah, there were some good things,” Reki muses, stretching his hands out and inspecting them. 

“Like seagulls.”

“Like Cherry getting knocked over by that wave.”

“Popsicles,” Langa supplies. “No dolphins, though.”

They sit there, facing each other, both of them smiling so wide it hurts. 

“No dolphins,” Reki repeats, and flops backwards with a _whumph_ . “There _was_ that girl on the boat. Man, she was pretty.”

Langa’s smile immediately slides off his face like melting ice, and his stomach goes sour. He puts a chocolate in his mouth, just to have something to do. 

“Like, shiny hair, big eyes, the whole deal,” Reki barrels on, oblivious to Langa’s internal struggle. “Didn’t notice me at all, though.” Here he pouts. 

“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Langa blurts out. He thinks of Joe’s words — _But he likes you too, you know_ — and squeezes his eyes shut. 

When he opens them again, Reki’s shifted closer, sprawled out on his stomach, a worried look on his face.

“Sorry,” Reki says quietly. “I didn’t mean to. Why, are you jealous?”

Langa’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and he briefly panics. Has Reki figured out his crush already? If he has, then he’s not clearly mad at Langa, right? 

Maybe he has a chance. 

_He likes you too, you know._

He takes a deep breath, and imagines himself plunging into icy cold water. No going back. 

“Yes,” Langa breathes, closing his eyes, and for a second it feels like he’s falling. 

Silence. 

Langa opens one eye cautiously. Reki’s in the same position as earlier, but now he looks lost in thought, and almost upset. 

“Oh,” Reki muses. “Well, there are more girls than her out there. You know there are like, ten girls in our class that have a crush on you? Aiko asked me if you were single the other day.”

What?

Both of Langa’s eyes are open, now. He’s bewildered. He had just confessed to Reki and now he talks about girls? Did he misunderstand? Maybe he needs to put it on a T-shirt. _Reki, I want to kiss your stupid face,_ it would say. 

“Huh? No, Reki, I was jealous of _her_. What are you talking about?” Langa says, confused. 

From below him, Reki’s jaw drops, stunned. Langa opens his mouth to say something else, he doesn’t know what, but in the next moment, Reki jerks his head up, lightning fast. 

Their heads knock together painfully, Langa sees stars for a second, and he instinctively shouts, bringing a hand up to his throbbing forehead. Tears well in his eyes. 

“ _What?_ ” Reki all but yells. He looks absolutely stunned, color rising to his cheeks. “I thought you— I thought you liked her!”

“Reki, calm down— I never said that. I just— God, I like _you_ , okay? How have you not noticed?”

Reki slaps a hand over his mouth. It looks almost comical, and Langa might even laugh if he wasn’t so perplexed and nervous. 

“You like me,” Reki says slowly. “As in. You’re romantically interested in me.”

“Yes,” Langa confirms, and now he’s blushing too, heat blooming in his neck. “I am. As in, I want to call you my— my boyfriend.”

“And like—” Reki waves a hand between them. “Kiss? And stuff?”

Langa’s _definitely_ blushing. “Yeah. And stuff.” His voice cracks, and he winces. 

“Oh my God,” Reki breathes, delirious, and he runs a hand through his hair. “Oh my God.”

“Reki,” Langa says worriedly. 

“Yeah? Oh my God.”

“Do you— happen to like me too? Maybe?”

Reki shakes his head, fast and hard, and for a moment, Langa’s heart drops and he wants to cry. Jesus, he’s going to have to move back to Canada, won’t he? 

“Wait— wait no!” Reki says loudly, tugging at Langa’s hands. “I didn’t mean to _shake my head_ , I was just — I’m surprised! Don’t look at me like a kicked puppy, Langa! Okay, just— just look, okay?”

He gets up, digs around in the pile of his clothes and finds his hoodie with a triumphant hum. He pulls something from the pocket of his hoodie, and keeps it in a fist, crawling back into the bed. 

“What is that?” Langa asks, quizzical. He’s back to being confused. Will things ever make sense with Reki? 

“Just _look_ ,” Reki says exasperatedly. He extends an arm between them, and slowly opens his fist. 

Lying in the middle of his palm, shining in the moonlight, is a perfect, smooth, round pebble. 

A lump rises in Langa’s throat. 

“I found this in the hot springs,” Reki explains, smiling, and he’s flushing so hard he might as well be matching his hair color. “And, well. You’re my penguin, Langa.” His voice rises in pitch and cracks at the end of his sentence, and he winces, but Langa says nothing of it. 

“Oh my god,” Langa breathes. He wants to cry again. He might actually cry. 

“Do you— do you like it?” Reki asks, and he looks down shyly, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice. 

Langa takes the pebble from Reki’s hand, and shuffles over to fondly put it on the bedstand. Then he goes back to Reki, moving closer than before, until their knees knock together and they’re face to face. 

“I’m going to kiss you now,” Langa declares. 

“Yes plea-” Reki’s cut off by Langa pushing his head forward to connect Reki’s lips with his. 

In the movies, when characters have their first kiss, there are fireworks and explosions and unusually dramatic pop songs playing in the background. 

When Langa has his first kiss, he thinks, _why have I been wasting my time skating when I could be doing_ this _the whole time?_

It’s awkward, but endearingly so. It’s fumbling hands and teeth clashing and mumbles of “sorry” and cut off laughs and just _Reki_ and _Langa_ and nothing else. Time melts away, and all Langa can think about is how he wants to do this until he dies. They both taste like chocolate, something that Langa oddly can't stop smiling about, and Reki’s lips are soft, impossibly so, and his hair is even softer. When Langa puts his hand in it, it feels like silk against his palm, and he runs his hand through it, over and over. 

They part, panting, breathing hard. 

“Wow,” Langa says, dumbfounded, and Reki laughs nervously. 

“Yeah,” he responds. “Wow.”

“Please be my boyfriend,” Langa blurts out, and Reki smiles bigger than Langa has ever seen him smile. He could get drunk on it. 

“Okay,” Reki says. “But you have to teach me how to do that one flip when you skate.”

Langa offers him his hand, and Reki doesn’t hesitate to take it, curling his fingers around Langa’s. “It’s a deal.” 

* * *

When Shadow bursts through their door the next morning to wake them up, he finds them still sleeping, curling together, legs intertwined. 

He laughs so hard he wakes them up, and when the rest of the group comes to see what the ruckus is about, Langa and Reki are mortified, both faces red. 

Joe simply winks at Langa, Miya complains that “now that they’ve finally figured their shit out they’ll be the grossest couple ever,” and Cherry just sighs and says he’s going back to bed. 

When they trickle away, Shadow still howling with laughter, Langa turns to Reki, who still has a rosy flush to his cheeks. 

“Your bedhead is really cute,” Langa comments, and he smiles when Reki groans and puts his head in his hands. 

“Tell me you’re not going to be one of those boyfriends whose mission is to make me blush all the time,” he whines. “I won’t survive.”

Langa laughs. His chest feels lighter than it ever has been. “Maybe I will. It’s your mistake, you gave me the pebble.” 

Reki hums, leaning his head on Langa’s shoulder, content. “I’ve made many mistakes, but you, Langa, are not one of them.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Langa teases. 

“S’okay. I’m tired. Let’s go back to bed.” 

They lie back down, Reki curling up next to him, and Langa knew he was affectionate, but this was _something else_. He doesn’t mind though, not at all. 

He can’t think of a better place to be. 

**Author's Note:**

> ok that’s it lol hope u enjoyed !!  
> ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ it would be cool if you left a kudos or comment if you liked it, but if not that’s okay too! or leave me some renga fic prompts bc i really like writing these boys!


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